Clutch



v E 14. I918. 1,35 1 ,240. Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

ill

rarsiiir WILLIAM FRITZ, GE PL iLABELPHIil, PENNLVANIA.

CLUTCH.

To all whom it may concern:

lie it known that 1, WILLIAM FRITZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and i itate ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inhin-hes, or which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in friction clutches of the typesused in conveying power from a rotating shaft to a gear, pulley the likearranged circumjacently thereto.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a clutch which iscapable oi? transmitting substantially the full power of the (h'ii iiigshaft to the driven element with out sir-tw g, jar or ifililiti and inan ear erated manner.

A further object is to provide means whereby the several contactingshoes are simultaneously and automatically withdrawn from operativecontact when the clutch is in a tree or inoperative condition.

ll still further object is to provide a compact clutch comprised of fewand sim ple parts, all or which are readily produced by ordinarymechanical processes, and which are of great strength and durability.

These and other like objects are attained by the novel construction andcombinations of parts hereinafter described, and shown in theaccompanying drawing, forming a material part of this disclosure, and inwhich Figure 1 is an end view showing a clutch made in accordance withthe invention;

2 is a central longitudinal view of the same;

lli 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line Zi--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4L is a side elevational view of the clutch; and

Fig. 5 is a partial transverse sectional view, similar to Fig. 3, butshowing the parts in another position.

In the drawings the numeral designates the driving shaft, to which issecured, by means of keys 11, the hub 12 of an annular sleeve l l,containing an interior annular recess 15 and havlng a rlng likeextension 16 projecting outward opposite the hub 12, with which itcorresponds in exterior character.

The sleeve 14 has formed in it a plurality of radial recesses 18, threebeing shown in Specification of tters Sistent.

Pathetic d leis. Serial inc. 240,052.

the drawing for purposes farther on described.

The exteriors of the hub 12 and ring 16 are both ;creyvthreaded and havefitted to l in a I s, irsi wctivclv 2? and tain 1g seats for the balls22 which sup port the gear 23, one side of which has a flange 24 cuppedand suited to engage with the halls ca :ied in the cup 20. k

' ttached to the opposite side of the gear an annular plate 25, itsinner periphery 12;" (Til,

suited to the balls carried in the cup 21, the arrangement being suchthat the gear body is free to rotate with respect to the sleeve 14-, andyet be held laterally by it.

Former in the gear body 23 is a concentric annular recess 28 to whichare loosely fitted flat plate rings 30 and 31, the latter being next theplate 25. These rings are connected by rigid pins 32 so as to operatesimultaneously.

Friction shoes or wedges 33 are fitted to the recess 28, the wedgeshaving a beveled inner face 34 contactable with the outer, similarlybeveled ends 85, of blocks 36, slidably carried in the radial recesses18 of the sleeve.

The inner ends 87 of these sliding blocks are be led concavely to agreewith the cone all), slidable on the shaft 10, the cone having acylindrical portion 4:1 next its hub l2, which enlarged in diameter andformed with an annular recess l3 suited to receive the fork (not shown)of an operating lever by means of which the cone is moved upon the shaftand when forced forward caused to malre contact with the inner ends ofthe blocirs 36, forcing them outward against the friction shoes 33 whichin turn impinge against the interior of the annular recess 28, impartingmotions to the gear, which is thus locked to the rotating sleeve.

The pins 32 pass through openings in the shoes 33 so that as the latterare moved, the rings 30 and 31 are caused to slightly rotate in theirseats, and in order to retract the shoes, when-the cone at) is movedoutward or retracted, there is secured to the rings, one end of a coiledtension spring 46, the other end being fixed within the recess 28 to thebody 1 1 so that the clutch, when the cone is withdrawn, is heldinoperative by reason oi the shoes being retracted.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple but effective form offriction clutch has been disclosed in which the driven ale ment isperfectly free from the driver when the cone is retracted, and it willbe obvious that either the gear or shaft may be the driver withoutchange in the parts or manner of operation. It will be further ap parentthat by making the cone double ended two of the clutch elements may beoperated in a very convenient manner, for such purpo as transmissiongearing for automobiles and other like purposes.

Having thus described my invention and 7 set forth the manner cit itsapplication and use, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is: V

l, in a clutch, a hub adapted to be fixed upon a shaft, said hub beingformed with a plurality oi radial slots, a member surrounding said hub,shoes disposed in said radial slots and adapted to'bear outwardly on thesaid member, wedge blocks located under the said shoes in thesaid slots,means tor forcing said wedge blocks outwardly, and a common springoperated means for retracting each of said shoes when the firstmentioned means is withdrawn.

2. In clutch, a hub adapted to be fixed upon a shaft, said hub beingradially slotted,

a member surrounding said hub, shoes dis posed in said radial slots andadapted to bear outwardly on the said member, said shoes being formedwith diagonal slots and having their inner faces inclined, wedge blockslocated in the said slots under the outer faces inclined incorrespondence to the inner faces of the said shoes, a cone slidable onthe shaft adapted to force said wedge blocks outwardly, and means forretracting said shoes when the cone is withdrawn. V

8. In a clutch, a hub adapted to be fixed upon a shaft, said hub beingradially slotted,

member surrounding said hub, shoes disposed in said radial slots andadapted to bear outwardly on the said member, said shoes being formedwith diagonalslots and having their inner aces inclined, wedge blockslocated in the said slots under the said shoes, said wedge blocks havingtheir outer faces inclined in correspondence to the inner faces of thesaid shoes, a cone slidable on the shaft adapted to force said wedgeblocks outwardly, and means for retracting said shoes when the cone iswitl drawn, said means includin a pair of rings sin-rounding the saidhub at opposite ends the radialslots therein, pins carried by said ringspassing through said diagonal slots in the shoes, and a spring actingupon said rlngs to move them around the said hub.

In testimony whereof I have signed my- WM, FRITZ.

